Pike River mine to remain unsealed

The bodies of 29 men remain in the mine six years after the explosion. Photo: Getty Images
The bodies of 29 men remain in the mine six years after the explosion. Photo: Getty Images
Prime Minister Bill English has agreed to put a halt to permanent sealing of the Pike River mine following talks with victims' families at Parliament today.

Bill English
Bill English

Mr English ruled out any re-entry of the West Coast mine, but has agreed to look into sending a drone into the mine drift to investigate further.

The mine has been closed since a methane explosion on November 19 in 2010, which killed 29 men. Two workers survived.

Anna Osborne, who lost her husband Milton, described Mr English's commitment's as "baby steps".

The families had hoped to convince the Government to allow a team to re-enter the mine, or at least launch a new inquiry to check whether re-entry would be safe.

But the families' spokesman Bernie Monk said they had made more progress in the meeting with Mr English than they had under previous Prime Minister John Key.

Following the meeting, Mr English said the Government had to follow health and safety laws.

"This decision is not about politics, it is about safety. We lost 29 lives in that mine and I will not risk losing any more."

Mr English said the families' proposal for re-entering the mine - which was written by two international mining experts - was not a detailed plan "and therefore does not make the case for a safe re-entry".

"Any decision to re-enter would also have to be made in accordance with our current workplace safety law, so the new directors would still have to take responsibility without indemnity for all aspects of safely entering the mine," he said in a statement.

"It's highly unlikely a new set of directors would decide it could be done safely."

Mr English said he will request that Solid Energy halts work on the mine's permanent seal and "explore options for unmanned entry".

"Robots have been tried in the past but the technology has failed. However in recent weeks the Government has been approached by experts with new proposals for unmanned access.

"The families' technical advisor agreed that there has been significant advancements in technology since the tragedy occurred six years ago."

Comments

very good soon they will be in and out....and we will wonder why it did not happen years ago..easy.